Untied Stories
by ryuufubuki
Summary: "We cannot despair human beings, as we are human beings." Albert Einstein. A collection of one shots involving the United World Series, featuring everything from the next generation, the origin of the Nordic five and special chapters on many different characters within the universe, including the second players!
1. Chapter 1: Saga Takes the Stage

Hello everyone! Welcome to a tale of spin offs from my United World Universe. For those of you that haven't read the original story, that is United World and Spanning Dimensions (which is still a work in progress and yes I know I really should be updating it) I highly encourage you to read them before continuing on with this story, but, if you just want to read the spin offs, go ahead, I have faith in your ability to catch up and understand the main points of the universe. I started this series of spinoffs because there is so much content that I wanted to add into the universe, but some of it doesn't exactly line up with the story events, such as the founding of the Nordic Five, Saga's adventures (which you'll learn about in this chapter) and other little drabbles on side characters or main. Anyway I don't own Hetalia or Avengers but I do hope you'll enjoy all the same! And don't be afraid to review, favor or follow!  
Before I get started though, I must say that I fell in love with Saga the moment I started to write about them. They'll be the focus of this first chapter, so I really hope you like them as much as I do since they'll crop up in spin offs later on in this story. With that, let the reading commence!

* * *

 **Chapter One**  
 **Saga Takes the Stage**  
 **"Parents are the bones on which children sharpen their teeth."**

* * *

"Have you told Aunt Chun-Yan and Uncle Ivan yet?" "You've got to be kidding me, Leha! If I told mom and dad I had powers they'd flip. The last thing the want me to do is become a hero, they won't even talk to me about their United World days." "I guess your right. Last I heard, no one else has even thought about talking to their parents yet. But it's only a matter of time before they figure out that we're part of the Saga."

Sai-Yu sighed deeply, falling flat on her back onto her bed. Ever since she and the others had formed Saga, hiding their powers from their parents had become difficult. Leha insisted that, as the leader of Saga, Sai-Yu should set an example for the others by telling her parents first. "I'll talk to them about it later Leha. For now, make sure the others are ready to meet tonight," Sai-Yu replied finally, "Make sure Lucas isn't late this time. I've got to go since my parents will be back soon." "I can't always control Lucas! See you tonight Sai-Yu."

Sai-Yu hung up, setting her phone down beside her on the bed. It wasn't the first time she lied to Leha, and the human lie detector probably wouldn't let her forget it either. Her mother and father were both on business trips. They didn't spend a lot of time at home, they never had. Not to mention, they always used the same excuse. Maybe it wouldn't hurt so much if they just told her they were doing hero jobs.

All the same, they were meeting in an hour at the old warehouse declared as Saga's base. If Sai-Yu was late Lucas would never let her forget it.

* * *

Alessandra knew her padre wasn't comfortable with all the male attention she received. Going on dates once a week gave him a heart attack. Of course, after joining Saga, she just hadn't the time to go on dates anymore. It was utterly exhausting to keep the boys at bay with her nightly adventures. So it wasn't a surprise when Leha messaged her about their meeting tonight.

"Alessandra, the lesson's over. Are you ready to go?" The beauty looked up from her phone to see her younger sister, touches of paint splattered on her clothes from her weekly painting lesson. "Just waiting on you, sorella. We've got a meeting, so we should probably head over. I told Padre I had a date tonight and you'll be hanging with the twins. Got everything you need Liliana?"

"Of course I do, sorella. Padre should be out late tonight too with his new job. And Madre's shut herself up in her studio again. Tell Leha we'll be on our way in a moment," Liliana replied. Together the two sister left, unknown to them, they were being followed.

* * *

"Is everyone here?" Leha asked, entering the warehouse with her exuberant older brother in tow. "Might as well do a role call, _Cyber_ ," Sai-Ya replied. Leha sighed, unbelieving she was the most responsible member of Saga, even though Sai-Yu was the leader. "Very well. As always please respond 'here' when I call you name. _Black Knight_?" "Here." " _Neo Flare_." "You're the one who brought me here!" " _Angelo_?" "Here." " _Hurricane_?" "Here, as always!" " _Hunter_?" "Why would I miss time spent with such a beauty?" " _Alchemist_?" "Shut up frog." " _Bard_?" "Here!" " _Max Force_? _Concord_?" "We're both here."

"Good. Since everyone is here, have you all been keeping up with your training. If so, any new discoveries should be reported to _Cyber_ for the database. Now, _Cyber,_ please check the blog for any requests," _Black Knight_ , aka Sai-Yu ordered. "Got one, art museum is hosting a rare Egyptian exhibit and would like to request additional guards. Willing to pay at most $1,000. Police are refusing due to the increase in crimes spread throughout the city," Leha responded. "A minor job, it'll take us all night but that's some easy money. Tell them we'll take it for $500. Send the blueprints to each of our phones."

"It's going to be a routine operation. _Concord_ and _Cyber_ , you'll be guarding the exhibit itself and watching the surveillance cameras. If you see anything tell us asap _Concord_. _Angelo_ and _Neo_ you two can take the roof I trust. It has the least security in place, so make sure you're doing regular rounds. _Hurricane_ and _Max Force_ , take the back of the building. _Alchemist_ you'll be solo on the North side of the building. _Hunter_ you'll be on the South. _Bard_ and I will take the front, its going to be your first big opp, it's not a training mission this time around, will you be okay with that?"

"Of course I will _Black Knight_. Troll's with me in case we need him to get some extra aid," the youngest member of Saga cheerfully responded. "Good, but we won't need any outside interference for such a simple mission. Have him circle around and pass on the message if there are any confirmations. No one engages alone tonight. We're working on more communication team. Now, _Hunter,_ please teleport us."

* * *

The night at the museum was going good. _Bard_ was surprised that the mission was going so well judging from the horror stories from the rest of Saga, she'd been surprised by the fluidity. Before this point she'd only been allowed to train at the warehouse with one of the others supervising her. There was no way she was going to mess this up. "Has anyone got anything?" _Black Knight_ murmured into the radio each member carried. Well each full fledged member, since Bard hadn't completely proved herself she was doomed to stay close to _Black Knight_ who had been checking in with the rest of Saga every half hour.

"Everyone is clear BK. It looks like it'll be a long night of nothing," _Cyber Storm_ responded not but a moment later. "Let's all do another sweep, then we'll meet at CS's location and-" Wait a moment! BK dodge left, _Bard_ go right!" _Black Knight_ shoved _Bard_ right before the younger could even comprehend what _Concord_ had said. Something zoomed between them as _Black Knight_ dodged left. The object hit the museum, causing the whole building to rumble. " _Bard_ and _Black Knight_ are engaging the enemy. No back up currently needed. Hold you positions," the Chinese-Russian hero ordered into the radio. " _Bard_ if the situation goes South get to _Hunter_ and have him take you back to base."

"Sorry children but that rock's mine," a low, slow male voice interjected. Both children of United World turned to face the new arrival. The man was much taller than six feet with close shaven hair and a suit that was obviously based off of _Blizzard King's_. _Bard_ could feel _Black Knight_ tense at the sight of her father's uniform. "And you are?" _Black Knight_ growled savagely. "My name is irrelevant, _Black Knight_. But if you insist you may call me _Black Rook_. Now step aside least you end up injured, or worse," the man responded.

 _Bard_ watched with bated breath as the two began to circle each other. "Do you even know what you are guarding? You don't even know what's at stake!" With that _Black Rook_ charged _Black Knight_ , pushing them both backwards into a neighboring building. " _Black Knight_!" _Bard_ yelped, moving to go help her leader. "Stay back _Bard_. He's dangerous," _Black Knight_ ordered, "Go to _Hunter_. Back to base. Now!"

 _Bard_ stood back, fidgeting anxiously with the hem of her shirt, torn between helping Sai-Yu and following orders. "Troll, go get mom and tell her what's happening," Taika Kohler murmured. _Just what are you planning, young one?_ "It's fine. Dad's been teaching me how to not go overboard," she replied, pulling a small needle from her sleeve. _The last time you tried without you father resulted in a stay at the hospital. Go to Aime or Peter while I find your mother._ What felt like a warm summer breeze blew by in the midst of early spring as Troll raced away towards Taika's home.

There was another loud bang in the area that Sai-Ya was fighting _Black Rook_ but _Bard_ waited until Troll was fully out of sight before she charged towards the fight.

* * *

Peter Kirkland, rather the _Alchemist_ of Saga, was worried about Sai-Yu. To be frank, although he would never admit it to anyone else he'd had a crush on her for the longest of time. He could never admit it because her father was terrifying. Utterly terrifying.

So when he saw Troll leaving the scene from the front of the building, and no sign of _Bard_ running towards him, he instantly knew something had gone wrong. He yanked his radio from his belt, knowing many of the others didn't want their parents to know about their nightly activities. It was only fair to warn them. "This is _Alchemist_ , I'm leaving post to help _Black Knight_. Troll's left the area, supposedly to tell _Mage_. If you don't want to be found out, now's your chance to leave. Otherwise, converge at _Cyber Storm_ and _Concord's_ location. Whoever we're fighting has got to be after a part of the exhibit."

"Copy that _Alchemist_ , _Cyber Storm_ is maintaining position. Feed of BK suggests opponent is after some sort of stone. Searching through exhibit files now," _Cyber Storm_ replied not even a moment later. Peter couldn't help but envy her unwavering resolve even at the thought of getting caught by their parents. " _Concord_ is maintaining position as well. I advise that _Hunter_ also aid you, if he plans to stay. Your combination of powers can greatly aid," _Concord_ reported.

"If _Alchemist_ is staying, so will I. I'll come to you a moment. The rest of you, get to _Cyber Storm's_ point, if UW shows up, I'll teleport us all out," _Hunter_ replied his voice oozing out of the radio. " _Hurricane_ and _Max Force_ reporting, we're going to _Cyber Storm's_ location now, ETA is two minutes, we are on call if needed out front," _Hurricane's_ melodious voice rang out. " _Neo_ here with _Angelo_ , also going to to CS's post. We'll be there in a bit."

Peter Kirkland grinned, the whole team was staying despite the risk. He knew what his mother had suffered through during her days in United World, and he knew very well that she did not wish the same fate upon him. But Peter had powers, he had the ability to help, much like his father did. He'd be damned if he didn't use them.

A small popping sound rang out behind him, signaling Hunter's presence before the scenery flashed and now he stood in front of the museum. It took _Alchemist_ a moment to reorient himself with the wave of vertigo that seized him as a side affect of the teleportation. "Take a breather. I'll scope out the situation," _Hunter_ said, all but shoving Peter's head down between his legs to help ease the nausea. "I'm okay, let's go. BK needs our help."

The two rivals ran off towards the sound of a battle, beside _Alchemist_ , Aime turned invisible while Peter began shifting into a tiger. Through his enhanced senses it took him only a moment to decipher the situation and charge at the man who was flinging shards of ice at the two members of Saga. Sai-Yu was knocked out, immobile and scraped up, while _Bard_ was barely hanging on, holding up a thin shield of red between the two heroes and their enemy. With little hesitation, Peter flung himself at the tall man, dressed just like _Blizzard King_ was in the videos Saga watched to come up with strategies.

The villain was surprised at the sudden appearance of the two other teammates. In the moment of which he was overwhelmed, _Bard's_ shield fell, the little hero exhausted by manipulating her own blood with such strict control as opposed to her normal unpredictable ability.

"Well, well, it looks like two more flies have come to join in on the fun," the _Blizzard King_ fake snarled, pushing Peter back into one of the surrounding buildings. " _Hunter_ , get BK and _Bard_ into the building now!" Peter ordered Aime. This man was strong, he could tell that much as his regeneration began to kick in. Taika and Sai-Yu were gone the next time he looked up, yelping as his ribs cracked back into place. "You always were the smart one, Peter, realizing what I was truly capable of, you even warned my sister. However, you are foolish to think you will all be able to overpower me, I know everything about you, and you know nothing about me."

* * *

"Damn it, to think someone would actually be after stuff in the museum," Lucas cursed as he followed _Angelo_ through the hallways filled with artifacts and paintings. "What's wrong, _Neo_? I thought you were dying for some action, isn't that what you said on the roof just a few minutes ago?" _Angelo_ replied. Lucas didn't need to see her face to know she was smirking. The vixen of the group had been leading him on for a while now, brushing off his attempts to flirt and dating most of his friends in their school.

It was exhausting chasing after her, but well worth it in the few moments they had lovingly shared together, when Alessandra wasn't feeling too flirty, firey, sassy, depressed, or angered. When it was just the two of them... Unlike on the roof tonight when, instead of upholding her duties as a guard she was texting her boy of the week-to be fair, Alfred was playing Ultimate Street Racer Five on his phone. "That's true, _Angelo_ , why don't you sit on the sidelines and act like a good damsel in distress while I save your ass again," Lucas snapped tartly. "Of course, your highness," _Angelo_ replied cheekily.

Crap, he'd done it again, she was totally angry with him.

They made it to the rest of the group a few seconds later, Sai-Yu was leaned up against a wall, and not for the first time Lucas wished they had someone who could heal among his teammates. "Is anyone fighting what's-his-face?" Lucas growled, eying Peter and Aime, they were weak, almost too weak for Lucas' liking if they couldn't hold a villain off for more than a few minutes. " _Black Rook_ ," Taika interjected suddenly. Lucas' glare softened as he turned to face the youngest member, he couldn't help it, he had a soft spot for the little girl.

"What?" "That's what he said his name was," Aime supplied. "I wasn't talking to you, french fry," Lucas shot back at his cousin. "Watch your tone, _Neo_!" Damn of course Sai-Yu had to wake up in time to spoil his fun. She sounded weak and looked pretty beat up. "Why don't you rest up for a bit, BK, it looks like you'll need to leave this guy to a professional," Lucas snapped.

"A professional? You couldn't possibly mean you, could you? What a joke," Alessandra laughed, causing Lucas to turn red with rage. "Sister, stop it," _Hurricane_ pleaded. "No, let her go on, come on Angelo, do you have something you want to tell me?" "Guys." "You can stop pretending that you're so much better than the rest of us-!" Guys!" "Oh really, do you really think you can compete with me in a fight? Wanna try it out here and now?" "GUYS!"

"Shut up, _Concord_!" Alessandra and Lucas screamed in unison. "Why don't you two shut up!" _Max Force_ snapped, planting her fist into the wall, creating a sizable dent. "What is it, _Concord_?" Peter asked as the two dueling halves fell silent, both seething with rage. "It's too late, he's here," _Concord_ replied, his voice barely above a whisper. The group turned as one as the doors exploded, pushing them all back.

"Christ, why didn't you tell us earlier, _Concord_?" Lucas groaned, hitting the back wall with a heavy thunk. "I was trying to," the Italian-German hero growled back. "Try harder next time, please," Leha coughed. Lucas stood up, drawing in kinetic energy and allowing it to form fire in both of his hands. He stalked through the hall of the museum despite Leha's call for him to wait as he saw _Rook_ pull out a gun of some sort and attach a random rock from the display on it.  
"What the hell did he just do?" Lucas yelled, watching a large dark hole open in the middle of the hall. "CS, analyze, now!" _Angelo_ yelped. "It's make up appears to be some sort of dimensional opening, rather to a separate world or time frame. What do we should do, _Black Knight_?" "We follow him, he's our problem, I don't think anyone from a different universe would appreciate us leaving them to deal with a villain we let get past us."

* * *

 _Black Rook_ , more well known as Andrei Braginsky, looked around his surroundings, satisfied at seeing the New York of the past. The stone had worked, just as _Alchemist_ had said it would. He'd had to fool his older sister, but it was no grief on his part as he had finally arrived at the time he needed to in order to kill United World.

Finally, he would prove himself to Saga, they would no longer question his ability to lead, even if it meant they all ceased to exist in the process, even himself, so be it. Andrei would prove he was the strongest, and he didn't deserve to be put on the reserve team for killing a villain. With that thought in mind he unleashed his evil laugh- he had been working on it the past few days, after all- in the midst of time square.

...Luckily for the passing New Yorkers, this wasn't the weirdest thing they'd heard.

"That guy has a totally rad _Blizzard King_ costume! Dude, where did you buy that thing?" a voice yelled, interrupting Rook's villainous plotting. "Tch, I suppose I have to start somewhere to draw out United World," _Rook_ huffed, seizing the New Yorker by the throat. He smirked, it wouldn't hurt to kill a few people to relieve stress until the heroes got here.

* * *

"Get off of me!" _Hurricane_ shrieked, finding herself at the bottom of a dog pile as the group spilled out of the warp gate. "I can't," Aime wheezed as Liliana felt her knee connect with a rather sensitive spot. " _Neo_! You asshole! You didn't have to touch me there!" Alessandra yelled. "Chill out, I didn't mean to. _Alchemist_ get up you lazy ass you're keeping the rest of us down!" Lucas snapped. "Sod off, _Neo_ ," _Alchemist_ replied crossly as the pressure atop Liliana began to decrease little by little.

Finally, she was able to sit up, taking in the group and their surroundings. They were all battered from fighting _Black Rook_ but Sai-Yu and Taika were definitely worse for wear. The team was smack dab in the middle of an empty construction lot, but judging by the surroundings... "The museum isn't here," _Concord_ observed, "Can you give us a date, CS?" "It's March 24, 2013. We appear to have gone back in time."

"2013? That's crazy, did they even have cellphones back then?!" Lucas yelled. "Of course they had cellphones back then, idiota. Didn't they?" Alessandra questioned a moment later with a fairly downtrodden expression. "Si, sorella," _Hurricane_ confirmed, patting her sister on the back comfortingly.

"Enough of that, why would Rook want to come back here, to this specific day and year. What was happening?" Sai-Yu questioned. "This would be during when United World was in action with the Avengers. Mom said they defeated Nikoli in January, and rescued Auntie Chan-Yun in the beginning of February. So they should be looking for the portal to the dimension of the second players around this time," _Bard_ reasoned.

"I guess that means they'll be too busy to help us out, but at least we can stay away from them! If we met them now they might realize who Saga is in the future," Liliana reasoned, then gasped, "Could it be that they already know we're Saga because of what happens today?" The team stared at the youngest Italian-Spaniard sibling in shock as the realization hit them.

"Then we'll avoid running into them at all cost. We have to find _Black Rook_ asap. Anything on the news websites?" Sai-Yu replied after a moment, turning to Leha who was typing on her small handheld computer. "Looks like he's in Time's Square, attacking civilians, no heroes have taken action yet. What's the call, boss?"

Sai-Yu turned from the group for a moment, rubbing her temples. Liliana could concede to that, it was a hard call, risking everyone's identities for the sake of one villain who their parents might be able to handle. Not to mention they had Bard, who didn't have half the control over her powers as the others did. Their team morale had hit an all time low.

" _Hunter_ , you can teleport us to Time's Square right? We don't really have much of a choice in the matter. _Rook_ has the stone that got us all here and we'll need it to get back. It's not like we can show up at the Avenger's Tower and ask for the stone after they catch him," the leader of Saga reasoned, still turned away from the group.

"I can do so," _Hunter_ confirmed. "Hunter we'll need you to distract Rook while we recover from teleporting. I don't care how, but try not to get hurt. _Max Force_ , Neo, and I will be the Vanguard, don't put yourself in danger when attacking. _Cyber_ , you take _Bard_ for crowd control, get the police to set up a perimeter two blocks away and work on clearing out buildings. _Alchemist_ , I'm going to need you to turn into something small, a mouse or smaller, you and _Hunter_ need to try and get as close as possible to _Rook_ without being detected, a sneak attack might be our best bet at winning. _Hurricane_ , once the area around _Rook_ is cleared get us all in with a wind or water barrier, that should hopefully prevent too much damage to the area. _Angelo_ if _Rook_ tries to run, stop him. _Concord_ , we'll have our radios on, the moment you see anything, say it. Has everyone got that? _Hunter,_ let's go!"

Liliana hated _Hunter's_ power, she couldn't help but let herself be overwhelmed by the wave of nausea that hit her as she threw up what had been her dinner. The others were probably in the same state but the only thing that broke through her undesirable state was Aime's taunting. "Get up, Lili," _Concord_ muttered into her ear, "we need that barrier up." "Wha-what?" _Hurricane_ murmured after a moment, head pounding, feet freezing. " _Rook_ was expecting us- well someone," her cousin replied, gesturing to their feet, trapped with a thick layer of ice. "Dammit," Liliana cursed, trying to pull her feet from their cold prison.

That would explain her cold feet.

"Barrier, Lili, we can't have him getting away," _Concord_ reminded gently. "Right, I'm on it." Focusing on her surroundings, Liliana drew the surrounding air to cascade around them in the form of what would appear to be a tornado to outsiders. It had taken her a long time- and nearly suffocating the others at least five times- to perfect the technique in order to keep enemies trapped. The only way _Rook_ would be able to get out was if he could fly, which wasn't too likely. "It seems that I must cut our play date to an end, Saga. You've already ruined my plan, but now that I have you here, perhaps you'll be able to repay me for the time I've already wasted here today."

A platform of ice shot out of the ground, lifting _Rook_ up with it, up and out of the tunnel to the surprise of Saga. "Such much for the only way to escape being flying. Fuck," Lucas snarled, catching on fire, a rather nasty habit of his whenever he got mad. At least it helped to melt the ice around his feet. "Lucas, we've talked about cussing," Leha sighed, her brother putting his hand on the ice on her feet and melting it slowly as he was freed. "Screw off, sis. He got away, with the stone, I might add. We're stuck twenty one years in the past!"

"Might as well drop the barrier, Lili. Not much use anymore," Carina grunted, shaking out her thawed feet. "Right. I'm sorry to let you all down," Liliana muttered, bowing her head. "Hey, don't worry about it sorella. I should have used my power to stop him," Alessandra frowned, glancing over towards _Bard_. Sai-Yu, who was closest to the youngest member was holding the girl up, she appeared to be barely conscious. "Taika?" Sai-Yu called gently. "Shit, she's probably lost a lot of blood by now. We really need to get her to the hospital," Leha cursed.

"Freeze." The members of Saga looked up, although it wasn't like all of them could run away either, still being frozen to the ground and all. Before them stood most of their parents-younger of course-joined by _Captain America_. And none of them looked happy.

"Fuck," _Cyber Storm_ whispered in a defeated tone.

* * *

To Be Continued...


	2. Chapter 2: Family Ties

Welcome back to chapter 2 of untied stories. I hadn't originally planned for the second chapter to be a continuation of the first but it got to the point where I figured with the length of Saga's journey back in time was too long to be contained in just a single chapter or course this chapter is long. I hope everyone has enjoyed meeting Saga but I bet you're anxious to read the side stories about the character of United World and the Avengers so I'm going to wrap up their adventures in the past during this chapter even if I am kind of skimming over a few details at some points. I don't own any component of the Marvel universe nor do I own Hetalia. Please enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review, favor and follow!

* * *

 **Chapter 2**  
 **Family Ties**  
 **"The most heroic word in all languages is revolution."**

* * *

"What do you think it is?" Alfred asked, staring at the tornado in front of them, where the crazy guy dressed like Ivan had been moments before, at least as told by the posts of the chaos on multiple websites. "What do you think, idiota? It's a fucking tornado," Chiara snapped. "What's a tornado doing in the middle of New York?" Chiara threw her hands up in the air, "How the fuck should I know, hamburger bastardo!" "Ayiah, perhaps you should calm down, Rome," Chun-Yan muttered. "You are a bit more irritable than usual, Rome. Did something happen?" Steve questioned. "I just have a bad feeling about this," Chiara growled in response.

"This isn't a group counseling session. Let's focus," Arthur ordered, "It looks like the wind is dying down. Whatever's in there is about to come out." True to Arthur's words, the tornado finally dissipated, revealing a group of..teenagers. They were in costume, well uniform, Alfred thought, it was apparent they were superheroes after all. There were ten total, four of them were trapped with ice around their feet, and one of them appeared to be unconscious.

"Fuck," one of the girls whispered.

"Excuse me!" Alfred yelled, causing all of the teenagers to flinch. He didn't know why but he felt a fatherly instinct rise in the pit of his stomach at the girl's vocabulary. "She meant, 'thank fucking god you're here' we were just attacked by this crazy dude, my friend is really hurt here, do you think you could call us an ambulance," the boy who was crouching down with his hand on the ice at one of their feet interjected with an obviously fake smile. "What a lame excuse," another boy, who looked like a carbon copy of Francis, muttered. "Well what would you have said, french fry?!" the first boy snapped. "Surely the Frog would have come up with something better than that," a third boy jumped in, his feet still frozen. "Pardon me, but I do not recall any of us being called the Frog," the mini Francis growled coyly. "I was talking about you, useless waste of space," the third snapped.

The first boy ooh'ed, hissing out a faint, "Burn." "Stay out of this! Stop copying me! Shut up!" the two other boys yelled, escalating in volume. "Will you three shut up!" a girl with a holographic screen glitching slightly from a wrist projector screamed, silencing the three. "Thank you, Cyber Storm," a girl dressed in all black sighed, "I'm sorry about my team, they're all worn out. We're known as Saga, from the year 2034. We're hunting down a villain named Black Rook who, we theorize is after you. I am Black Knight, leader of the team. Bard here is exhausted from using her power, would you mind allowing us to rest at your base for a short period of time?"

"Why would he be after us?" Arthur asked. "We are unsure as of this point. However, he stole a vital component to our time travel device upon our arrival here, we are unable to return without it. If you allow us to rest and possibly a bit of type A blood we will be on our way as soon as Bard is recovered," the one Black Knight had called Cyber Storm replied, eyeing Alfred closely. Alfred knew Captain America and Artie were discussing as he examined the team, Saga, before him. "Wait a moment! Don't tell me your friend is a vampire!"

"How fucking stupid can you be!" Chiara snapped at him. Chun-Yan sighed deeply, "Please stop yelling, Rome, it's too early for this." "Bard isn't a vampire, she doesn't have a very good handle on her powers yet, part of which is controlling her own blood," Black Knight smiled kindly. "Be quiet, BK. I am getting better," the small girl, who Alfred had previously thought to be unconscious, murmured. "Yes, yes, of course," Black Knight mumbled back.

Alfred smiled, this Saga reminded him of his own team, in the days before they had split up after the Black Skull incident. Even in the wee hours of the morning-with most of the street lights knocked out-he could tell the teenagers were from a multitude of racial backgrounds. They bantered about little things, but cared a lot about each other.

"We will allow you to rest at the Avengers tower. However, we would like to ask you a few questions, and help you apprehend this Black Rook," Arthur finally announced. The teenagers froze, all eyes turning to Black Knight. "I-I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to go anywhere near Rook. He is very dangerous and bent on your destruction," she replied. Suddenly one of the boys, the only one not involved in the little argument earlier, yelped, and Black Knight turned to him. They had a whispered conversation lasting only a few moments before the leader turned back to face them. "It seems that we may, perhaps, need your aid. According to Concord at least. We will accept your help."

"Very well. We should return to the Avenger's tower-!" "Before that would you mind helping me thaw out this ice, da-Al-Mr. Firestorm?" the first boy asked with a grin, wincing at his stutter. "Um sure, dude," Alfred responded.

* * *

Carina could not believe it! They were teaming up with United World! The team of their parents to defeat a common enemy. The day had gone from ten times worse to a hundred times better. Sure, there was the worry about exposing their identities, and it wasn't like Carina wanted to sound selfish but her and Enzo's parents weren't exactly part of United World anyway. The identities of Max Force and Concord would remain safe for another day.

"Aiyah, what are we going to do?" Sai-Yu whined as the Avengers and members of United World left them to their own in a large room in the Avengers Tower. "This does seem pretty hopeless, doesn't it," Lucas added tartly, glaring at Alessandra. Really? Were those two still fighting? "At least Bard is receiving medical care," Carina threw into the mix of hopelessness.

They had been separated from Taika and Leha while the former received blood. It was obvious the Avengers and United World were still cautious about taking them in, but to be honest, in the state the teenagers were in, it wasn't like it'd be a challenge to defeat them. "You're right, that's what matters, all of us getting back to the future safely," Sai-Yu muttered after a long moment, exhaling a breath and rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Don't forget taking out this Black Rook too," Aime added.

The group shot him a glare as one. They didn't need to be reminded of their failure to apprehend him and get home without meeting up with their parents, but trust Aime to bring it up again. "Right, Hunter, how could we forget about him. For now let's try to get some rest, many of us have pushed our powers so we won't be any use in stopping Black Rook until we recover. If anyone chooses to not take this time to rest, you'll be taken off this mission, we can't afford any risks in the field," Sai-Yu announced.

"You mean, risks like you took when you decided to fight Black Rook alone?" Oh god, did Lucas even know how to filter his thoughts, Carina worried for his life one day when Sai-Yu was at full strength. "Yes, like I did," their fearless leader muttered. Lucas smiled in satisfaction, "Just leave that guy to me next time, I'll be sure to take him down." If only Leha had remained with them to keep her older brother in place, he was always risky, egotistical and bossy, Carina wondered just what her cousin saw in him.

"No use fighting with him, BK. Let's get some rest, like you suggested," Alessandra suggested, leaning back against the wall she had been sitting near to. "Would you like us to keep a watch posted, BK?" Peter inquired. Sai-Yu took a long look at the door in the room, shaking her head after several moments. "I don't think we'll need it here. We'll assume they can be trusted." So Carina leaned against the wall, offering her shoulder up to her twin, who gratefully accepted it as the team drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

 _Child wake up, there is someone like you here._ "Like me, Troll?" Liv asked, blinking tiredly in the light of dawn that had began to light up her room. _I cannot describe it, child. She is like you. I feel connected with her as much as I am with you._ Liv tossed in her bed, pushing the blankets back anyway. As she left the fold of blankets and into the cold, stark surroundings of her room at Avengers tower she whined followed by a faint shiver, wishing to return to the warmth she had slept in. _Honestly, child, I cannot do this all the time_ , Troll huffed as a warm breeze filled her room. She nodded politely to him, getting dressed, as her mythical companion guided her to her usual training clothes. _Just in case,_ he promised.

Once out of her room, she was surprised by the small congregation of adults gathered in the living area, seeming deep in discussion. This room, Troll murmured, pushing her towards the infirmary. She entered quietly, looking at the room of unoccupied cots. The corner nearest the window was blocked from view by a curtain. Behind her the door opened up, as Chun-Yan entered the infirmary, nearly bumping into the young hero. "Oh, L-Mage, were you planning to see our guests? You'll need a mask, Spectrum's orders. Here," the kind Chinese woman pulled a masquerade mask from her pocket, waiting for Liv to put it on before leading the way to the closed off corner.

Sitting in the corner, working on what looked like a circuit board was one teen, completely focused on her task as she barely spared a moment to look up at the two heroes entering the small area. On the cot was a younger girl with fair skin and a shade of blond hair somewhere between Liv's own and Matthias'. The smaller girl was hooked up to an IV, and was sound asleep, looking quite frail.

"This is _Cyber Storm_ and _Bard_ , they've come here from the future, chasing a villain, _Black Rook._ I suppose you already know _Mage_ , _Cyber Storm_?" Chun-Yan questioned. "Yes, we've never exactly met each other, but we've followed your work closely so that we may one day improve our own teamwork," the girl nodded tiredly, looking as though she was about to doze off.

This one, this is the one. Liv turned away from the seated girl, watching Troll linger over the infirmary bed watching the young occupant curiously. Cyber Storm was watching her, and faintly Liv wondered if she could see Troll as the giant forest guardian reached down as if about to touch the girl when he drew back sharply as her eyes opened. Troll disappeared a split second later, doubtfully shy as Bard sat up in her bed, looking around at the other occupants of the room.

"Mo-?" "I'm glad you're awake, Bard. We're in the past, remember? How are you feeling?" Cyber Storm asked immediately, in her chair one moment and by the girl's side the next. Super speed, just like Alfred. "I'm fine," Bard replied, her confusion echoing in her features as she looked at Liv with a sense of, was that nonrecognition?

Cyber Storm let out a deep sigh of relief, before scowling. "You should have gone to Hunter like Black Knight told you to. Do you have any idea how concerned we were for you? Your power is still underdeveloped and under trained to be fighting against such a villain without assistance. You'll be lucky if we don't decide to bench you for the next missions," Cyber Storm scolded her younger teammate, who at least had the decency to look slightly shameful. "I'm sorry CS but I couldn't just leave her! Black Rook is too powerful for any of us to handle alone." As Cyber Storm relaxed, her scowl fading, Liv could swear if she could under Bard's mask, the girl would surely be giving her older teammate puppy dog eyes.

Just like Matthias had the habit of doing whenever he pissed her off.

* * *

Aime awoke as the sun rose, a fairly late time for him to wake up as he usually helped his mother make breakfast. The other were still sound asleep, scattered throughout the room. Sai-Yu was curled up in a corner, shivering slightly and leaning closer to Peter in her sleep. Carina and Enzo, the Italian twins, were both under their own blankets, sleeping back to back. Alessandra and Lucas were obviously still mad at each other as they slept across the room from each other, but Aime knew they would eventually end up together, he had a fairly good sense of love just like his father. Liliana was leaning against her older sister snoozing peacefully. Satisfied with the state of his team, at least those present.

Cautiously, he left the room closing the door gently but not before putting his blanket over Sai-Yu. Following his nose as he came to the kitchen, a pot of coffee already on and several of the Avengers and United World members chatting at the table. He turned invisible, still standing in the hall as he listened.

"We don't have anyway to prove they are who they say," Tony pointed out. It wasn't like that wasn't true, they had taken a big risk just letting them into the tower as it was, with luck maybe they wouldn't help them out anymore. "Exactly, this way we'll be able to keep an eye on them if they prove they shouldn't be trusted," Alfred pointed out but a moment later, "Don't you guys have like some way to read their minds?"

"SHIELD could perhaps keep them in protective custody until we find a way to send them back to their time." Aime tilted his head at the voice which he had only heard on a few accounts. The director of Shield was here, which means it was highly unlikely that they would allow Saga to freely help in catching Black Rook.

Were their parents always so suspicious?

Aime crept away from the conversation silently, heading towards the infirmary. He didn't need to hear anymore, it hadn't been a good idea to come back here with their parents. Hopefully, Aime would be able to get them awake and teleported out of here before UW and the Avengers decided to make a move. Upon arriving he twisted the handle slowly, unsurprising to find it locked.

Anxiously, Aime turned off his invisibility in favor of teleporting inside the room. Leha and Taika looked up in surprise at his arrival, but a quick finger to his lips informed them that silence was vital. "Grab onto me, we have to get out of here. They don't trust us at all," Aime whispered to the two. Cyber Storm nodded, helping Bard to undo the IV as the machine flat lined. The both grabbed onto Aime, worried about the attention the noise would draw. "Get up!" Aime yelled into the room, startling the others who had been sleeping into a state of wakefulness. "What the hell, French Fry? Do you know how much sleep we've gotten?!" Lucas snapped, fighting to untangle himself from his blankets. He could already hear footsteps thundering down the hall.

"I only have enough juice left for me and four others. But we need to get out of here unless you want to be locked up during our stay in the past," Aime spouted out shortly. Sai-Yu's tired eyes sharpened at once as she pushed herself to her feet. "Hunter take Bard, Concord, and Liliana. We can't have you fainting once you reach your destination. Go now, I'll radio you for you location, don't tell us until I tell you to. If we're captured your job is to find and capture Black Rook, don't worry about us."

With that Aime nodded and teleported himself and his three companions away to the only place he could think of that would still be the same so far back in time. They fell with a splash into the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park.

* * *

"We're going to take a stand. Don't hold back power wise. Once you see an opening leave, even if it means leaving us behind. Got it?"

As Arthur broke the door down, six teens were huddled in the middle of the room, each with determination shining in their eyes. " _Angelo_ , now," _Black Knight_ ordered. Arthur blinked at the order until before him appeared a large dragon. It glared at Arthur for all of a moment before swooping down. And tearing his limbs apart from body. The pain felt so _real_.

The leader of United World gasped in surprise, kneeling down to the ground as he looked at the dismembered stumps waiting for them to grow back. But they _weren't_. His wounds only bleed freely. He screamed out in _pain_. _So much pain_. It overwhelmed him, making it nearly impossible to catch his own breath no matter how many times he attempted to breathe in.

Why weren't the growing back? What was happening? Arthur was going to _die._

He was going to die.

Like this.

Arthur who had lived for thousands of years was about to die.

Oh god, he was about to die!

And he was terrified.

"Arthur!"

The leader of United World blinked, suddenly, looking down at his hands, held by Gwen. "What?" he croaked. He looked down, he had hands, arms, legs, feet. But he could have sworn that they hadn't grown back. He had been about to die.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked. "I just, I..." Arthur trailed off, unable to describe the events that had just taken place. He directed a haunted glace at the one called _Angelo_. "What's wrong? Scared of a few teenagers?" the boy who looked like Alfred taunted, his eyes practically glowing. To be able to use such a tactic on a member of the team they'd said they would help provide these children had an alternative motive. They were no allies of United World or the Avengers.

"Why you," Alfred snarled stepping forward. "Get back," Arthur snapped, pulling the back of Alfred's shirt to stop the younger. "We're already in range, don't given them an excuse to use it." "Use what?" Chiara asked. "She has the same power as you. I just... It doesn't matter. The one called _Angelo_ will be our first target."

"I don't think any of us will be your target, old man. You barely saw a glimpse of Angie's power, but you want to try to defeat all of us. If she wanted to she could have rendered all of you useless in that moment. Or scared you so bad that perhaps some of you wouldn't have survived. Would you like to be ripped into pieces again, _Spectrum_?" _Alchemist_ questioned.

"Why are you here?" Steve growled. "I thought we told you last night, well this morning. There is a villain after you. But seeing as you don't believe us, I'll give you two options. Either let us go, or we'll fight all of you, and I doubt you'll like the result," _Black Knight_ responded. The two teams were at a stalemate for a few moments, UW and Avengers unable to gauge their opponents, and Saga hoping their parents would fall for their bluff.

"Allow me to help you."

* * *

He couldn't believe it, his plan had actually worked out perfectly. It took Andrei only a moment to freeze the six members of Saga. "You should take them to wherever you hold your villains quickly, the ice won't hold them for long. If they died, the families of those they killed wouldn't be able to seek their peace," he explained. "Dude, you're the tornado guy from yesterday," Alfred exclaimed. "My name is _Black Rook_. I've come here from the year 2052 to hunt these fugitives. I'm sorry if they gave you any trouble," Andrei replied.

He watched a complex look of emotions take over Kiki's face. The _Black Cat_ was unable to see past his lie with the pieces of truth enveloped within the story. Leha had long ago told him the weakness of her ability, what a big mistake that was. "And why should we trust you, they gave us a similar story?" _Black Widow_ questioned.

"I thought this would happen," Andrei replied, taking off his mask and pulling out his ID card from his wallet, which he passed to Gwen, "My name is Andrei Braginsky, I am the son of Ivan Braginsky and Chun-Yan Yao. Oh I guess you can take some blood if you don't believe me. But let's get these kids off to a cell first. They've caused me enough trouble as it is," Andrei sighed.

"What should we do?" Madeline whispered. "Let's go down to the lab. Bruce can draw your blood there, we may need you're help as well Tony. Thor, can you and Alfred take them down to the holding cells. And unthaw them please, we don't need them getting frostbite before we find out who's telling the truth," Steve ordered, "Madeline, Natasha, Clint and Gwen I want you four to go and track down those who escaped, focus your search on. Kiki, Francis, Tonio and Loki, you'll also be helping to look for them, don't underestimate them, we don't know what they're capable of yet. Chiara, Chun-Yan, and Ivan will stay here and guard the cells in case they return for their allies. Liv I want you to.. Where is Liv? Never mind, Arthur, you should get some rest."

"Follow me, and if you try anything funny..." Steve trailed off, his attention redirected to Andrei as the teenager merely shrugged. "Trust me, they hurt my friends so any enemy of theirs is a friend of mine," Andrei replied, making clear, concise eye contact with the _Black Cat_ of United World before following Steve.

Little did he know the missing hero already had her own suspicion. From the way Troll had acted, to the way Kiki had reacted, unable to tell if Andrei was telling the truth or lying. She guessed that it'd all come to light soon, but first she needed to find the other four children before the rest of her team got their hands on them.

* * *

To say Enzo was surprised when they were suddenly underwater would have been an understatement. Last night had really taken it's toll, their powers weakening from lack of sleep, food and time. But it'd been his fault in the end. He hadn't been able to see the rest of the vision. However, there wasn't any time to mope about his mistakes at this point, unless he wanted to drown in Central Park. Liliana was already paddling to the surface, helping Taika up. Enzo grabbed onto Aime's hand, dragging him up with him.

"We need to get out of here. Find some civilian clothes and find a safe house," Liliana muttered as soon as they reached the shore, soaking wet in the early morning light and getting quite a few weird looks. "Where are we going to do that? I have some cash I guess a thrift store isn't out of the question. But a safe house? I wish BK had sent Cyber Storm with us, she could have gotten something," Aime replied bitterly.

"We can't wait for them, for all we know they got captured. We need to hunt down Black Rook to open up the time wrap again. And we won't be able to do that unless we can avoid getting caught by UW and the Avengers. Aime, we can't get caught on cameras by SHIELD, so we'll need you to use your invisibility to get clothes and a bag we can put our uniforms in. After we change we'll find somewhere to eat and finally a temporary safe house," Enzo planned, "Until we know the state of the others we are best off assuming we're alone in this. And eventually we'll have to defeat our parents in order to get the rest of the team back."  
"There's no way we can beat them. They can fully control their powers, they work well in a team, they have the avengers," Taika yelped, "We can't go against them!" "Then what do you suppose we should do? Dammit Bard, how do you think we feel about this?" Aime snapped. The youngest of the strong flinched.

Silence hung over the group for a few drawn out seconds before Liliana cleared her throat, startling each member. "We can't stay here and argue all day. Aime, clothes. After we get changed we'll find a safe house and hide out until either we can make a plan or BK contacts us."

"Right," Aime growled, teleporting off. He returned only a few minutes later with an armful of clothes. "Thank you. Let's go change."

* * *

"Let me out of here!" Sai-Yu yelled, throwing another black mass of shadows at the door. The cell only rumbled again but nothing else happened. "You're trusting the wrong person! Fucking listen to me. Black Rook! Bèn dàn! Schas po ebalu poluchish, suka, blyad!" She had been screaming and trying to open the the door for the past few hours, already her throat was sore, the only thing she wanted to do was stop, but then she couldn't let her friends down. The door to her cell opened the next moment, and _Black Rook_ stepped in dressed civilian clothes. "Give it a rest already," he sighed, "And take a seat, we have a lot to discuss."

He threw the radio the team used to contact each other on the small table, although making sure it didn't break and took a seat at the small table that Sai-Yu had been plotting to throw at the door next. "Who are you?" she snarled, edging to the corner of the cell, "What did you do to my team?" "Relax, they're all okay for now at least. Of course if you fail to cooperate that won't last long. Now, sit."

Sai-Yu sat down wearily, glaring at _Black Rook_ as she did so. She had no clue if he would really do it, but the safety of her teammates was on the line. "I'm glad you understand. I would ask you to tell me where Liliana's group is, but I doubt you know. So I want you to radio them, and find out."

"What? I-How do you know Liliana's name?"

"Now, don't be like that Sai-Yu. No questions," _Black Rook_ replied, snatching the radio off of the table, changing the frequency, " _Black Cat_ , if you would." A second later a tortured scream split the air. Sai-Yu gaped at the radio for a moment, perplexed by the sound. "Stop it!" she screamed suddenly, lunging across the table for the radio. "Now now, she'll only stop if I say so. She is under my control. Can't have United World finding out that I'm lying," _Black Rook_ supplied, freezing Sai-Yu's feet to the ground.

Sai-Yu practically turned red with anger as Lucas' screams paused for a moment, replaced by a soft cry. "Stop her and I'll do it," Sai-Yu grimaced. _Black Rook_ grinned, picking the radio back up, "That's enough, _Black Cat_. You can stop." Sai-Yu held her breath as Lucas let out another excruciatingly painful scream before _Black Rook_ turned the radio off.

 _Black Rook_ passed the radio over to Sai-Yu, grinning, knowing he had won. But she didn't really have a choice, if she didn't do as _Black Rook_ said her friends would be hurt, but who knew what would happen if she did turn over her teammates. "I want to check in with the other members here. Just to make sure they haven't been harmed," Sai-Yu stated.

Her enemy's smile faded slowly. "Very well, _Black Cat_ send the feed of the rooms to the frequency I requested," _Black Rook_ huffed, pulling up a holographic screen from his wrist, a replica of _Cyber Storm_ 's own tech. Before Sai-Yu appeared her five captured friends. Lucas was bleeding from a wound that was probably courteous of his own mother's sword. "Talk into the radio and they'll all hear you, make sure you tell them they can talk to you through the video feed as well," _Black Rook_ instructed.

"Hey everyone, this is _Black Knight_ , you guys can talk back to me through video feed that I'm currently watching. Lucas, I'm sorry, what happened was my fault. Is everyone else okay?" Sai-Yu asked. After hearing the chorus of yeses she took a deep breath in. " _Black Rook_ is here, he wants me to turn in the others or else he'll keep hurting all of you. I'm sorry, but I can't let the others be captured. I hope you'll all understand," Sai-Yu finished quietly, watching the fury grow in _Black Rook_ 's eyes. He snatched the radio out of her hands, " _Black Cat_ , go to _Max Force_ 's room, why don't you give her the same greeting you gave to _Neo Flare_."

And that was when Sai-Yu's world exploded.

* * *

"Thank you. Now let's get changed."

"I don't think you'll need to do that."

The members of Saga jumped as they turned to see _Mage_ with the rest of the Nordic Five. "You guys wanna fight?" Enzo barked in shock. If he hadn't foreseen them, that means he was seriously drained there was no hope for them to win this battle with none of them at even fifty percent. "You might as well take us in it won't be much of a.." _Bard_ trailed off, watching Tino's eyes begin to water. "Oh you poor things!" Tino cried out, scampering over to _Bard_ and pulling her into a hug.

"Huh?"

" _Mage_ here told us everything, kids. We're here to help you guys, that _Black Rook_ guy's gotta be a bad cookie for you guys to travel back in time after him," Matthias added. "But don't worry we'll take him down, right tough guy?" Mr. Puffin threw in, flying close to Emil. Liliana's face lit up while Aime glared at the Nordic Five. "How do we know we can trust you?" Aime growled. "They aren't lying," Taika breathed, staring at Troll who dwelt behind Liv. Despite not having met him yet, Taika still held her unwavering trust for her mother's mythical companion.

 _Do not worry, Kjære barn, I am here to help you._ "You sure, _Bard_?" Enzo asked. "If you don't trust us now, you won't have a chance at getting your friends back and catching Black Rook," Tino replied, pulling away from Bard, with a hard look in his eyes, "The sake of our future depends on it too, right?"

"I can't say that's not true. I'm assuming you guys have a plan?" Liliana asked, rubbing her temples. The Nordic Five looked at each other, for a moment. "Well, I guess you could say that we were hoping you guys would have one," Matthias laughed nervously. The members of Saga groaned. "Well, here's what we'll do..."

* * *

Tino would never cease to be impressed with Berwald's super strength as he bust through the wall of one of the holding cells in the basement of the Avenger's Tower. It had taken them a few hours of planning and sleeping or eating for the members of Saga. Now they, the Nordic Five and four members of Saga were breaking into the headquarters of the Avengers. Was it bad that Tino was super excited about this?

" _Black Knight_!" _Bard_ yelled, dashing ahead to the leader of Saga who was barely avoiding the rubble from the broken wall. "What are you four doing here? I told you to find some place safe!" _Black Knight_ snapped. The girl looked bedraggled, as if she'd been dragged through hell and back again. Instantly, Tino raced over, "Stay still please." It took a few moments to heal her injuries, but the girl's exhaustion undoubtedly remained. " _Neo Flare_ is hurt really badly. And I think _Black Rook_ has some sort of mind control powers which he's using on _Black Cat_ ," she gasped.

"Always stepping in to ruin my plans. Well that's about to change. I won't be pushed aside anymore, never again will you guys ever see me as weak and useless," _Black Rook_ growled, pushing aside a piece of the wall which had landed on his leg. He stood shakily, prepared to fight despite his bad leg. "What the hell are you talking about? We don't even know you?" _Concord_ snapped.

"Who do you think I am? I'm from the future. You abandoned me, just because I messed up one time! You all left me! None of you cared how I felt!" _Black Rook_ howled. The heroes in the room froze, each taking what _Black Rook_ said into account. Tino felt his own sympathy bubble up for the supposed villain at his pain filled exclamation. "You're from our future, aren't you?" _Hurricane_ questioned. _Black Rook_ chuckled darkly, "It took you long enough, didn't it? To think I always looked up to you."

"Look we can help you now-!" "No! I don't need you're help. I'm going to kill my father, the _Blizzard King_ , and the rest of United World and prove to all of you how strong I am. I'll prove that I deserve to be in Saga, just like the rest of you! You'll never throw me out ever again!"

"I don't suppose there is anyway to talk you out of this then, Andrei?" _Black Knight_ inquired, stepping away from Tino and ending the healing process. "No, I won't back down sister. You have doubted me for far too long." "Very well then, this is my fight," _Black Knight_ retorted.

Andrei, that was his name right, couldn't hide his shock as _Black Knight_ stepped up to face him. "You? Against me, alone? You've already seen what I can do so why take this risk? If you don't defeat me then I swear I'll kill everyone here!" Andrei yelled.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. You're my brother. I should have left you turn down this road. You're my problem. Thank you for breaking me out, but the others need help more than I do. I can handle him alone."

With that the brave girl turned to face her brother leaving Saga and the Nordic Five to hold back the Avengers and free their comrades.

* * *

"Just you and me, sis," _Black Rook_ growled, beginning to circle his sister as the others funneled out of the room. He had spent long hours studying his sister's fighting style, while she knew nothing about him. This would be an easy match. However, confidence can be your downfall in any fight, for while _Black Rook_ was used to his sister's refined fighting style, he hadn't ever observed her younger self. Sometimes inexperience can be more useful than years of training.

Sai-Yu rushed in head first, tackling her brother. As soon as he was down she tugged at the shadows in the room, forming a harness like structure around a large chunk of rock in the room. She tugged at the rope formed from darkness and yanked it forward, sending it straight at Andrei who quickly broke it into pieces using a large shard of ice that peaked up from the ground.

"Nice moves BK, I hope you don't mind if I take my turn now," Andrei replied as he stood up. The teenager thrust his hands towards the ground as jagged shards of ice erupted from the ground, making their way towards Sai-Yu. The young hero dodged out of the way, but not before hissing in pain as the ice caught her arm, creating a deep cut. She flipped out of the way, dodging the waves of frozen water particles as she attempted to gain enough time to conjure her own counter attack.

"Look, Andrei, what they-what we did to you was wrong. But what you're doing now isn't going to change anything. You're hurting innocent people, this isn't the way to go about things," Sai-Yu shouted, taking momentary cover behind a large chunk of the fallen wall. "Are you trying to make me give up. You should know better by now, sister. You're the one who was never there for me. If I'm a monster for killing people, then what does that make you for creating me?"  
Sai-Yu froze in stark realization. That's right, wasn't it? She wasn't fighting against a stranger, this was her own brother. He wasn't some enemy to be defeated just like that. Underestimating him wouldn't get her anywhere.

"You're right," she resigned. The onslaught of ice attacks stopped suddenly. "Wha-What did you say?" Andrei stuttered, utterly awestruck. Sai-Yu crept out of her hiding place dropping any form of defense, if Andrei struck right now, it'd be over. But that was a risk she was willing to take for her brother. "You're right. It's my fault that this happened to you. I wasn't there for you when you needed me. And I'm sorry," Sai-Yu apologized. She watched as _Black Rook_ paused, astonished by his sister's apology. He lowered his guard, providing the opportunity that would lead to his defeat.

* * *

"You guys should go to our comrades, we'll take on the Avengers. If it doesn't turn out well, we don't want you guys taking the hit for us," Aime explained to the Nordic Five, "Not to mention, _Neo Flare's_ going to need some treatment if what BK said is anything to go by." _Bard's_ father looked ready to protest, but her mother nodded, grabbing his suit and dragging him off towards a collection of the cells while the rest of the Nordic Five followed.

"Tell me you have a plan to defeat United World and the Avengers," Liliana muttered. "And if I didn't?" Aime asked calmly. There was a look of pure rage on Liliana's face in that split second before her features relaxed. "Right, plan is to throw _Hunter_ at them as our sacrificial pawn and take that chance to escape," Liliana explained, ignoring Aime's offended squawk. "I second this plan," Enzo chimed in. "Agreed," Taika added.

"Hey, hey! I was just joking, I do have a plan you guys. Jeez, have faith in my much, will you?"

" _Concord_ , when we face them, you're gonna need to use to sound powers, loud enough to disorient them if you can manage that. Once you reach your limit, Taika will cover you with a shield until you're ready to go again. When their disoriented, I'll teleport Lili here in the middle and she'll blast _Rome_ and the three closest to her with full power. Once we teleport back, I want you to destroy the ceiling, _Concord_ , try to separate them as best you can with the fall of the rubble. Lili's gonna need some time to recover from teleporting. Those without strong offensive techniques won't be able to break through. Although please take care not to kill anyone."

"Is that going to work?" Taika muttered as they heard approaching footsteps, pausing where they were at to make their stand. "If it doesn't then we'll hopefully have a bit of time to fall back and make up a new plan. For now this is all we got," Aime replied, grabbing Liliana by the hand, getting ready to teleport. "Now or never I guess," Enzo muttered, reaching into one of the hidden pockets in his outfit, undoubtedly for a cough drop to relieve the damage done to his throat after using his offensive power. Taika pulled the needle from her suit, pricking her finger and creating a shield, although it was small.

The Avengers and United World appeared around the corner. Beside Taika, Enzo took a deep breath in, stepping in front of the rest of his Saga members, and screaming. The effect was instantaneous as the heroes bent over in pain, clenching their eyes. Once Enzo stopped and ducked behind Taika's small shield, Liliana and Aime were gone, followed by an aggravated yell, probably at being blasted with wind or soaked in water.

Taika peeked up above her shield to instantly be blasted by wind, but before she returned to the small bit of protection she was able to see _Rome_ being pushed down with the intensity of the wind, _Black Widow_ soaked and struggling to her feet and _Thor_ barely staying up right in the face of the extreme wind. "Get ready, _Concord_ ," she whispered to her companion, who nodded, shoving the wrapper of a cough drop into his pocket and crunching down on it.

A few second later the wind stopped and Aime was back with them, Liliana's head already between her knees as the nausea kicked in. Enzo left the cover of the small shield once more, aiming at the ceiling above the Avengers and United World and letting out a painful sounding yell, not as strong as his first attack but enough to cause the ceiling to crumble overhead of them and create a rather thick looking barricade.

"That should hold them for at least a minute, we need to come up with our next plan, the same trick won't work twice," Liliana croaked, collapsing down to sit in favor of stand. She and Enzo already looked exhausted, but they couldn't stop until the rest of the team was safe and _Black Rook_ was defeated. "Damn, we're going to have to do that again," Enzo rasped, his voice barely audible.

"No, this is where your lives end."

The teenagers looked down the way they had come earlier to see _Black Cat_. "We totally forgot about her, didn't we?" Taika whispered, "Think she's still under _Rook's_ control?" A rather insane sounding laugh echoed out of the member of United World's mouth, answering the question for them as she lifted up her sword. " _Bard_ , I hate to ask this of you, but _Concord_ and _Hurricane_ aren't in any condition to fight. I'm going to try to teleport as many members of United World and the Avengers as far as possible but..." "It's okay _Hunter_ , I can handle her," Bard reassured, morphing the form of the shield into that of a battle axe.  
"Sorry, we'll jump in as soon as we can," Enzo whispered, popping another cough drop into his mouth. "It's no problem, it'll be a piece of cake to take her down... I hope," Taika replied stepping towards her adversary. Her battle axe was longer compared to _Black Cat's_ sword, and she knew the elder's usual strategy, so unless Rook had predicted this match then Taika would win. Most likely at least.

Once Kiki made it into striking range, Taika swung out with her axe, narrowly blocked by Kiki's sword. The force of impact caused them both to skid backwards, loosing their footing on the smooth floor. They circled each other slowly, watching for their opponent to falter so they could seize the opportunity to attack. Finally, growing impatient Taika lunged forward and Kiki narrowly dodged under the axe.

The elder hero swung for Taika's legs as she moved, only to be blooded by the handle of the axe. Once she had deflected the blade, Taika slashed again, blocked once more by the blade. Kiki drew back, attempting to stab Bard as she did so. Rerouting the sword, Taika escaped the attack with a small scratch on her arm.

Upon seeing her enemy momentarily distracted by her injury, Kiki jumped forward, hitting Bard in the side using the hilt of her sword. Stumbling backwards from the blow, _Bard_ rapidly blocked an oncoming strike by Kiki, slowly being pushed back towards the wall, leaving her minimal room to dodge.

Already growing dizzy due to the rapid blood loss, _Bard_ began blocking strike after strike, trying to swing out at Kiki whenever the chance presented itself. "It's over _Bard_ ," _Black Cat_ stated calmly, delivering a strong blow to the handle of the axe, causing the blood to disperse, splashing the wall and both of the fighters.

 _Black Cat_ lifted her sword up to the now helpless _Bard,_ ready to inflict the final blow.

" _BARD_!"

* * *

"Did you really think that I would stop because you apologized?" _Black Rook_ chuckled, "How naive! Honestly sister, are you that weak?" Sai-Yu grinned, pulling herself up so she could stand the best she was able to. "No matter how weak I may be now, I have one advantage over you."

"And what would that be?" _Black Rook_ asked, rolling his eyes. The situation was getting old, his sister constantly standing back up, she'd always been like this, never able to admit defeat. She should have helped him, she should have teamed up with him, he could have put her power to good use, unlike her.

"Teammates."

"Andrei, what do you think you're doing?" _Black Rook_ turned around, his breathing speeding up as he saw his sister, from his time, standing with the rest of Saga behind her. They looked angry, lethal, as if they were about to destroy a villain. They were going to beat him, and drag him back. He was done for. All of his plans. Gone.

But that was impossible, it couldn't be them. " _Angelo_ ," Andrei hissed, watching in satisfaction as the vision faded and _Angelo_ took their place with _Alchemist_. They both looked exhaustion, perhaps Sai-Yu had friends but they wouldn't be any help. "Back off now, _Black Rook_. Back up's a moment away," _Angelo_ warned. She was leaning on _Alchemist_ using him as a crutch, if she was in this condition Lucas was probably ten times worse. Andrei grinned at the thought, his plan would go forward, once he eliminated these two, perhaps watching her friends die before eyes would damper her spirit. Well killing _Angelo_ and freezing _Alchemist_.

"Why don't you just stay there for a moment," Andrei growled, freezing his elder sister's feet where she stood. He stalked towards the new arrivals who prepared to defend against him. It would do them no good. Andrei would finish them off quickly they could stand not stand up against-

That was the line of thinking that caused Andrei to get thrown into a wall by an angry Norse god and a raging American hero.

* * *

"Kiki!" Alfred howled, emerging from the rubble to see his girlfriend about to kill a kid. That was so not chill. Acting quickly, he pushed the rubble away from his path, racing forward and pushing his girlfriend back. "What the hell, Keeks?" he snapped. "Move, she must die," Kiki ordered, pointing her sword at Alfred. "Get away, she's under Black Rook's control!" the girl, _Hurricane_ if Alfred remembered right, who sat by the rubble, yelled.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Alfred snarled, grabbing the girl behind him and speeding them both over to her two companions. Behind them the rubble exploded, flying outwards to them. Thor appeared followed by a doused Natasha and Antonio all looking equally pissed off. Beside Alfred appeared the Francis carbon copy, looking rather startled by Alfred's presence.

"How do we free her?" Alfred questioned, eyeing Kiki as she gazed at the growing group of heroes. _Concord_ looked startled, watching Kiki cautiously and pulling Bard closely to him. "I-I guess I mean I'm not sure but she's probably linked directly to _Black Rook_ , knocking one of them out would probably break it," he stuttered. "Ah jeez, I'm going to regret this aren't I?" Alfred groaned.

He ran over to his girlfriend, hoping he was too fast for her to react, with little hesitation he grabbed knocked her out, hitting the back of her neck and catching her before she could fall. "Team we'll be taking out Black Rook, if he has any need to take control of Keeks he's no friend of ours. You kids can help us, in fact that'd be best for all of us. You'll get the stone and go back to your time," Alfred took charge immediately.

"Alfred we don't know if their-!" "If their what? It doesn't matter, he took control of Kiki. You're with me or you guys had better get out of my way," Alfred snapped back, cutting off _Black Widow_. He set Kiki down, leaning her against the nearest wall gently, wishing there was a safer place to keep her. With that _Fire Storm_ began stomping towards his enemy, the three members of Saga leading the way.

* * *

Antonio whistled in appreciation at the sizeable dent _Black Rook_ was left in, totally K.O.'ed. He'd long since wondered what a team up of _Thor_ and Alfred could do to someone, it seems he finally got his answer. A one hit K.O. might be useful for the future, the agent part of him filed that away for future use.

"Damn, never knew the old man had it in him," a new voice muttered in appreciation. The Nordic Five, accompanied by the two other members of Saga had entered the destroyed cell, the boy looked like a disaster, covered in what Antonio assumed was his own blood. "Shut up Lucas," the girl growled, half carrying, half dragging the Lucas with her. "You sure you don't want me to heal you up real quick?" Tino asked dotingly.

"Nah, I'll get healed up when I get home. We need to get back to our time now," Lucas replied, pushing off of his teammate and limping up to _Black Rook_ , "Ain't that right, cousin?" _Black Rook_ glanced at the Avengers and United World members cautiously as if she would be tackled next but nodded. "I'm sorry about all the confusion and trouble we've caused you. But we should really get back to our time, and make sure this guy gets back to his time as well," _Cyber Storm_ interjected. "Are you sure you children can handle this?" _Thor_ questioned.

The team of teenagers shared a glance, before _Angelo_ stepped forward. "I think we've got him from here. He gave us a lot of trouble so I'm glad we could get help from you guys in the end. It only seems fair that we help you out a bit in exchange. The key to opening the portal to the second players' world is in what the puppet master said to you, _Mage_ ," the girl informed. For the first time, Toni actually studied her appearance, shocking himself with the similarities he could see to Liv and himself.

Lucas grinned, limping over to _Angelo_ and giving her a big kiss on the lips, "That's exactly why I love you." "Lucas! You asshole!"

Sai-Yu opened up the door, it was late at night but she was still tackled the moment she entered her house. "Andrei, what's wrong? Did you have another nightmare?" she asked quietly, picking up the four year old. "I woke up and you weren't home and I got really scared, Sai," Andrei mumbled, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I'm sorry I wasn't here Andrei. Why don't we both go get some sleep," Sai-Yu questioned gently, kicking off her shoes and heading towards her bedroom. "Promise you won't leave me," Andrei muttered in reply.

"I promise."


End file.
